Modems, methods, and computer program products for selecting an optimum data rate using error signals representing the difference between the output of an equalizer and the output of a slicer or detector

ABSTRACT

Modems, methods, and computer program products select a data rate based on error signals in a modem. In an illustrative embodiment, error signals representing the difference between an output of an equalizer and an output of a detector are accumulated and an average error value is computed therefrom. A signal to noise ratio is determined using the average error value. The signal to noise ratio is then used to select a data rate. In another illustrative embodiment, the mean squared error at the output of the equalizer is determined and then used, along with the probability of error in correctly detecting a symbol, to select a data rate. Incorrect decisions in detecting received data symbols can cause a catastrophic failure in a decision feedback equalizer used in a modem receiver as errors are repeatedly fed back causing the tap coefficients for the equalizer filters to be shifted from their normal operating values. By adjusting the data rate in accordance with the error signals generated in a modem receiver, the decision feedback equalizer can operate with greater stability as the data rate can be reduced in response to increased noise conditions.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. ______,entitled RECEIVERS, METHODS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR AN ANALOGMODEM THAT RECEIVES DATA SIGNALS FROM A DIGITAL MODEM (Docket No.RA9-98-074), U.S. application Ser. No. ______, entitled MODEMS, METHODS,AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR IDENTIFYING A SIGNALING ALPHABET INVARIANCE WITH AN IDEAL ALPHABET DUE TO DIGITAL IMPAIRMENTS (Docket No.RA9-98-075), U.S. application Ser. No. ______, entitled DECISIONFEEDBACK EQUALIZERS, METHODS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FORDETECTING SEVERE ERROR EVENTS AND PRESERVING EQUALIZER FILTERCHARACTERISTICS IN RESPONSE THERETO (Docket No. RA9-98-076), U.S.application Ser. No. ______, entitled MODEMS, METHODS, AND COMPUTERPROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR RECOVERING FROM ERRORS IN A TONE REVERSAL SEQUENCEBETWEEN TWO MODEMS (Docket No. RA9-98-078), and U.S. application Ser.No. ______, entitled MODEMS, METHODS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FORFALLING BACK TO A LOWER DATA RATE PROTOCOL UPON DETECTING ABNORMAL LINECONDITIONS DURING STARTUP (Docket No. RA9-98-079), which are filedcontemporaneously herewith and the disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates generally to the field of modems,and, more particularly, to using error signals in a modem as a basis forselecting a data rate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The demand for remote access to information sources and dataretrieval, as evidenced by the success of services such as the WorldWide Web, is a driving force for high-speed network access technologies.Today's telephone network offers standard voice services over a 4 kHzbandwidth. Traditional analog modem standards generally assume that bothends of a modem communication session have an analog connection to thepublic switched telephone network (PSTN). Because data signals aretypically converted from digital to analog when transmitted towards thePSTN and then from analog to digital when received from the PSTN, datarates may be limited to 33.6 kbps as defined in the V.34 transmissionrecommendation developed by the International Telecommunications Union(ITU).

[0004] The need for an analog modem can be eliminated, however, by usingthe basic rate interface (BRI) of the Integrated Services DigitalNetwork (ISDN). A BRI offers end-to-end digital connectivity at anaggregate data rate of 160 kbps, which is comprised of two 64 kbps Bchannels, a 16 kbps D channel, and a separate maintenance channel. TheISDN offers comfortable data rates for Internet access, telecommuting,remote education services, and some forms of video conferencing. ISDNdeployment, however, has been very slow due to the substantialinvestment required of network providers for new equipment. Because theISDN is not very pervasive in the PSTN, the network providers havetypically tarriffed ISDN services at relatively high rates, which may beultimately passed on to the ISDN subscribers. In addition to the highservice costs, subscribers must generally purchase or lease networktermination equipment to access the ISDN.

[0005] While most subscribers do not enjoy end-to-end digitalconnectivity through the PSTN, the PSTN is nevertheless mostly digital.Typically, the only analog portion of the PSTN is the phone line orlocal loop that connects a subscriber or client modem (e.g., anindividual subscriber in a home, office, or hotel) to the telephonecompany's central office (CO). In recent years, local telephonecompanies have been replacing portions of their original analog networkswith digital switching equipment. Nevertheless, the connection betweenthe home and the CO has been the slowest to change to digital asdiscussed in the foregoing with respect to ISDN BRI service. A recentdata transmission recommendation issued by the ITU, known as V.90 ,takes advantage of the digital conversions that have been made in thePSTN. By viewing the PSTN as a digital network, V.90 technology is ableto accelerate data downstream from the Internet or other informationsource to a subscriber's computer at data rates of up to 56 kbps, evenwhen the subscriber is connected to the PSTN via an analog local loop.

[0006] To understand how the V.90 recommendation achieves this higherdata rate, it may be helpful to briefly review the operation of V.34analog modems. V.34 modems are optimized for the situation where bothends of a communication session are connected to the PSTN by analoglines. Even though most of the PSTN is digital, V.34 modems treat thenetwork as if it were entirely analog. Moreover, the V.34 recommendationassumes that both ends of the communication session suffer impairmentdue to quantization noise introduced by analog-to-digital converters.That is, the analog signals transmitted from the V.34 modems are sampledat 8000 times per second by a codec upon reaching the PSTN with eachsample being represented or quantized by an eight-bit pulse codemodulation (PCM) codeword. The codec uses 256, non-uniformly spaced, PCMquantization levels defined according to either the μ-law or A-lawcompanding standard.

[0007] Because the analog waveforms are continuous and the binary PCMcodewords are discrete, the digits that are sent across the PSTN canonly approximate the original analog waveform. The difference betweenthe original analog waveform and the reconstructed quantized waveform iscalled quantization noise, which limits the modem data rate.

[0008] While quantization noise may limit a V.34 communication sessionto 33.6 kbps, it nevertheless affects only analog-to-digitalconversions. The V.90 standard relies on the lack of analog-to-digitalconversions outside of the conversion made at the subscriber's modem toenable transmission at 56 kbps.

[0009] The general environment for which the V.90 standard was developedis depicted in FIG. 1. An Internet Service Provider (ISP) 22 isconnected to a subscriber's computer 24 via a V.90 digital server modem26, through the PSTN 28 via digital trunks (e.g., T1, E1, or ISDNPrimary Rate Interface (PRI) connections), through a central officeswitch 32, and finally through an analog loop to the client's modem 34.The central office switch 32 is drawn outside of the PSTN 28 to betterillustrate the connection of the subscriber's computer 24 and modem 34into the PSTN 28. It should be understood that the central office 32 is,in fact, a part of the PSTN 28. The operation of a communication sessionbetween the subscriber 24 and an ISP 22 is best described with referenceto the more detailed block diagram of FIG. 2.

[0010] Transmission from the server modem 26 to the client modem 34 willbe described first. The information to be transmitted is first encodedusing only the 256 PCM codewords used by the digital switching andtransmission equipment in the PSTN 28. The PCM codewords are modulatedusing a technique known as pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) in whichdiscrete analog voltage levels are used to represent each of the 256 PCMcodewords. These PAM signals are transmitted towards the PSTN by the PAMtransmitter 36 where they are received by a network codec. Noinformation is lost in converting the PAM signals back to PCM becausethe codec is designed to interpret the various voltage levels ascorresponding to particular PCM codewords without sampling the PAMsignals. The PCM data is then transmitted through the PSTN 28 untilreaching the central office 32 to which the client modem 34 isconnected. Before transmitting the PCM data to the client modem 34 thedata is converted from its current form as either μ-law or A-lawcompanded PCM codewords to PAM voltages by the codec expander(digital-to-analog (D/A) converter) 38. These PAM voltages are processedby a central office hybrid 42 where the unidirectional signal receivedfrom the codec expander 38 is transmitted towards the client modem 34 aspart of a bidirectional signal. A second hybrid 44 at the subscriber'sanalog telephone connection converts the bidirectional signal back intoa pair of unidirectional signals. Finally, the analog signal from thehybrid 44 is converted into digital PAM samples by an analog-to-digital(A/D) converter 46, which are received and decoded by the PAM receiver48. Note that for transmission to succeed effectively at 56 kbps, theremust be only a single digital-to-analog conversion and subsequentanalog-to-digital conversion between the server modem 26 and the clientmodem 34. Recall that analog-to-digital conversions in the PSTN 28 canintroduce quantization noise, which may limit the data rate as discussedhereinbefore. Moreover, the PAM receiver 48 needs to be insynchronization with the 8 kHz network clock to properly decode thedigital PAM samples.

[0011] Transmission from the client modem 34 to the server modem 26follows the V.34 data transmission standard. That is, the client modem34 includes a V.34 transmitter 52 and a D/A converter 54 that encode andmodulate the digital data to be sent using techniques such as quadratureamplitude modulation (QAM). The hybrid 44 converts the unidirectionalsignal from the digital-to-analog converter 54 into a bidirectionalsignal that is transmitted to the central office 32. Once the signal isreceived at the central office 32, the central office hybrid 42 convertsthe bidirectional signal into a unidirectional signal that is providedto the central office codec. This unidirectional, analog signal isconverted into either μ-law or A-law companded PCM codewords by thecodec compressor (A/D converter) 56, which are then transmitted throughthe PSTN 28 until reaching the server modem 26. The server modem 26includes a conventional V.34 receiver 58 for demodulating and decodingthe data sent by the V.34 transmitter 52 in the client modem 34. Thus,data is transferred from the client modem 34 to the server modem 26 atdata rates of up to 33.6 kbps as provided for in the V.34 standard.

[0012] The V.90 standard only offers increased data rates (e.g., datarates up to 56 kbps) in the downstream direction from a server to asubscriber or client. Upstream communication still takes place atconventional data rates as provided for in the V.34 standard.Nevertheless, this asymmetry is particularly well suited for Internetaccess. For example, when accessing the Internet, high bandwidth is mostuseful when downloading large text, video, and audio files to asubscriber's computer. Using V.90 , these data transfers can be made atup to 56 kbps. On the other hand, traffic flow from the subscriber to anISP consists of mainly keystroke and mouse commands, which are readilyhandled by the conventional rates provided by V.34 .

[0013] As described above, the digital portion of the PSTN 28 transmitsinformation using eight-bit PCM codewords at a frequency of 8000 Hz.Thus, it would appear that downstream transmission should take place at64 kbps rather than 56 kbps as defined by the V.90 standard. While 64kbps is a theoretical maximum, several factors prevent actualtransmission rates from reaching this ideal rate. First, even though theproblem of quantization error has been substantially eliminated by usingPCM encoding and PAM for transmission, additional noise in the networkor at the subscriber premises, such as non-linear distortion andcrosstalk, limit the maximum data rate. Furthermore, the μ-law or A-lawcompanding techniques do not use uniform PAM voltage levels for definingthe PCM codewords. The PCM codewords representing very low levels ofsound have PAM voltage levels spaced close together. Noisy transmissionfacilities can prevent these PAM voltage levels from being distinguishedfrom one another thereby causing loss of data. Accordingly, to providegreater separation between the PAM voltages used for transmission, notall of the 256 PCM codewords are used.

[0014] It is generally known that, assuming a convolutional codingscheme, such as trellis coding, is not used, the number of symbolsrequired to transmit a certain data rate is given by Equation 1:

bps=R _(s) log₂ N _(s)  EQ. 1

[0015] where bps is the data rate in bits per second, R_(s) is thesymbol rate, and N_(s) is the number of symbols in the signalingalphabet or constellation. To transmit at 56 kbps using a symbol rate of8000, Equation 1 can be rewritten to solve for the number of symbolsrequired as set forth below in Equation 2:

N _(s)=2^(56000/8000)=128  EQ. 2

[0016] Thus, the 128 most robust codewords of the 256 available PCMcodewords are chosen for transmission as part of the V.90 standard.

[0017] The V.90 standard, therefore, provides a framework fortransmitting data at rates up to 56 kbps provided the network is capableof supporting the higher rates. The most notable requirement is thatthere can be at most one digital-to-analog conversion and subsequentanalog-to-digital conversion in the path. Nevertheless, other digitalimpairments, such as robbed bit signaling (RBS) and digital mappingthrough packet assemblers/disassemblers (PADS), which results inattenuated signals, can also inhibit transmission at V.90 rates.Communication channels exhibiting non-linear frequency responsecharacteristics are yet another impediment to transmission at the V.90rates. Moreover, these other factors may limit conventional V.90performance to less than the 56 kbps theoretical data rate.

[0018] U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,801,695 and 5,809,075 to Townshend appear todisclose a modem for data transmission over existing telephone lines atdata rates higher than conventional analog modems.

[0019] Articles such as Humblet et al., “The Information Driveway,” IEEECommunications Magazine, December 1996, pp. 64-68, Kalet et al., “TheCapacity of PCM Voiceband Channels,” IEEE International Conference onCommunications '93, May 23-26, 1993, Geneva, Switzerland, pp. 507-511,Fischer et al., “Signal Mapping for PCM Modems,” V-pcm RapporteurMeeting, Sunriver, Oreg., USA, Sep. 4-12, 1997, and Proakis, “DigitalSignaling Over a Channel with Intersymbol Interference,” DigitalCommunications, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1983, pp. 373, 381, providegeneral background information on digital communication systems.

[0020] Nevertheless, there exists a need for improvements in V.90 modemtechnology to allow V.90 modems to achieve more closely the theoretical56 kbps maximum data rate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0021] Certain objects, advantages, and features of the invention willbe set forth in the description that follows and will become apparent tothose skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may belearned with the practice of the invention.

[0022] It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedmodem having a data rate selection capability.

[0023] It is a further object of the present invention to provide datarate selection that achieves a high data rate for differing lineconditions.

[0024] These and other objects, advantages, and features of the presentinvention are provided by modems having a data rate selectioncapability, and methods and computer program products for selecting adata rate based on error signals in a modem. In accordance with anaspect of the invention, error signals representing the differencebetween an output of an equalizer and an output of a detector areaccumulated and an average error value is computed therefrom. A signalto noise ratio is determined using the average error value. The signalto noise ratio is then used to select a data rate.

[0025] Incorrect decisions in detecting received data symbols can causea catastrophic failure in a decision feedback equalizer used in a modemreceiver as errors are repeatedly fed back causing the tap coefficientsfor the equalizer filters to be shifted from their normal operatingvalues. By adjusting the data rate in accordance with the error signalsgenerated in a modem receiver, the decision feedback equalizer canoperate with greater stability as the data rate can be reduced inresponse to increased noise conditions.

[0026] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, abonus amount is initially added to the signal to noise ratio and is thensubtracted over a period of time. The temporary bonus amount anticipatesa final, steady state signal to noise ratio and is therefore removedover time as the signal to noise ratio approaches its steady statevalue. Advantageously, the performance of the modem receiver is improved(i.e., a higher data rate is selected) during the interim time taken forthe signal to noise ratio to reach its steady state value.

[0027] In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention,the mean squared error at the output of the decision feedback equalizeris determined and then used, along with the probability of error incorrectly detecting a symbol, to select a data rate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Other features of the present invention will be more readilyunderstood from the following detailed description of specificembodiments thereof when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

[0029]FIG. 1 is block diagram illustrating a typical V.90 connectionbetween a subscriber and an ISP in accordance with the prior art;

[0030]FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the internal architectureand connections between the client modem, the central office, and theserver modem of FIG. 1;

[0031]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a V.90 client modem in accordancewith the present invention;

[0032]FIG. 4 is a more detailed diagram of the receiver used in the V.90modem of FIG. 3;

[0033]FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an adaptive digital filter of thetype used in the adaptive fractionally spaced decision feedbackequalizer, echo canceller, and two-stage interpolator of FIGS. 3 and 4;

[0034]FIG. 6 is a diagram of a portion of a PAM signal illustrating thesampling instances and the interpolation points used by the two-stageinterpolator of FIGS. 3 and 4 in accordance with the present invention;

[0035]FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the two-stage interpolator of FIGS. 3and 4;

[0036]FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the software architectureof the receiver of FIG. 4;

[0037]FIG. 9 is a flow chart that illustrates the operation of thedecision training program and reference training program of FIG. 8;

[0038] FIGS. 10A-10B are a flow chart that illustrate the operation ofthe severe error detector program of FIG. 8;

[0039]FIG. 11 is a signaling alphabet or constellation point diagramillustrating the boundaries for a severe error as referenced in FIGS.10A and 10B;

[0040]FIG. 12 is a block diagram of the data rate selector of FIG. 4;

[0041] FIGS. 13A-13B are a flow chart that illustrate the operation ofthe data rate selector program of FIG. 8;

[0042] FIGS. 14A-14B are a flow chart that illustrate the operation ofthe tone reversal detection program of FIG. 8;

[0043]FIG. 15 is a tone sequencing diagram illustrating the exchange oftones and messages between a server modem and a client modem as part ofthe tone reversal detection described in FIGS. 14A-14B;

[0044]FIG. 16 is a constellation diagram depicting a tone and a phasereversal of the tone as referenced in FIGS. 14A, 14B, and 15;

[0045] FIGS. 17A-17C are a flow chart that illustrate the operation ofthe abnormal line condition detection program of FIG. 8; and

[0046]FIG. 18 is a tone sequencing diagram illustrating the exchange oftones and messages between a server modem and a client modem as part ofthe abnormal line condition detection described in FIGS. 17A-17C.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0047] The present invention will now be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichpreferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may,however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed aslimited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodimentsare provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, andwill fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in theart. Like reference numbers signify like elements throughout thedescription of the figures.

[0048] As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the presentinvention can be embodied as a method, a digital signal processingsystem, or a computer program product. Accordingly, the presentinvention can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, anentirely software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code,etc.) embodiment, or an embodiment containing both software and hardwareaspects. Furthermore, the present invention can take the form of acomputer program product on a computer-usable or computer-readablestorage medium having computer-usable program code means embodied in themedium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system.In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readablemedium can be any means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate,or transport the program for use by or in connection with theinstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0049] The computer-usable or computer-readable medium can be, forexample but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device,or propagation medium. More specific examples (a nonexhaustive list) ofthe computer-readable medium would include the following: an electricalconnection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM). Note that thecomputer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper oranother suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as theprogram can be electronically captured, via, for instance, opticalscanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted orotherwise processed in a suitable manner if necessary, and then storedin a computer memory.

[0050] Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentinvention is typically written in a high level programming language suchas C or C++. Nevertheless, some modules or routines may be written inassembly or machine language to optimize speed, memory usage, or layoutof the software or firmware in memory. Assembly language is typicallyused to implement time-critical code segments. In a preferredembodiment, the present invention uses assembly language to implementmost software programs. It should further be understood that the programcode for carrying out operations of the present invention may alsoexecute entirely on a client modem, partly on a client modem, partly ona client modem and partly on a server modem, or partly in a clientmodem, partly in a server modem, and partly in the PSTN.

[0051] A block diagram of a V.90 client modem 60 according to oneembodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 3. The V.90 modem60 includes a V.34 transmitter 62 and a PAM receiver 64, which arecoupled together by an echo canceller 66. The transmitter 62 includes aV.34 encoder 68 that encodes the data to be transferred, typically usingtrellis coding, and then provides the encoded data to a V.34 transmitunit 72. The V.34 transmit unit 72 in conjunction with the D/A converter74 transmits the encoded data towards the network using, for example,QAM modulation.

[0052] The receiver 64 receives a PAM signal from the network through anA/D converter 76. The digital samples from the A/D converter 76 areapplied to an automatic gain control (AGC) component 78, which appliesthe necessary amount of gain to compensate for attenuation in thenetwork and/or in the local loop.

[0053] Once the digitized signal has been amplified by the AGC component78, the signal is received in a two-stage interpolator 82. The two-stageinterpolator 82 is used in conjunction with an adaptive fractionallyspaced decision feedback equalizer (DFE) 84 to match the sampling rateof the receiver 64 with the sampling rate of the network, which istypically 8000 samples per second. In addition, because the samplingrate at the receiver 64 is based on the local clock in the modem 60while the sampling rate of the network is based on the network clock, aclock synchronizer 86 is used to synchronize the digital samplesprocessed by the two-stage interpolator 82 with the network clock. Afterthe digitized signal is filtered by the decision feedback equalizer 84,the signal is received by the slicer/detector 88, which converts thedigital samples into indices by comparing the digital samples withthresholds that are half-way between indexed reference signal levelscomprising the PAM signaling alphabet.

[0054] When the V.34 signal transmitted by transmitter 62 is received bythe line termination equipment in the central office, portions of thissignal may reflect back towards the V.90 client modem 60, therebycreating a disturbing echo signal superimposed on the incoming PAMsignals. The echo canceller 66 is used to filter out this echo signal sothat it does not interfere with the performance of the receiver 64. Morespecifically, the echo canceller 66 receives a complex T-spaced symbolstream from the V.34 encoder 68 and produces a real, T/k fractionallyspaced stream symbol stream as an output, where k is an integer numberand T refers to the modulation interval, which is generally given by theinverse of the symbol (baud) or sample rate. Selection of the integer kdepends on the sampling rate used by the front end of the receiver 64(i.e., the A/D converter 76 and the AGC 78). The echo canceller 66 inaccordance with the present invention comprises an adaptive digitalfilter 94 that performs both an interpolation function as well as afiltering function. The sampling rate used in the V.34 encoder 68 isdifferent from the sampling rate used by the front end of the receiver64. In a preferred embodiment, the V.34 encoder 68 operates at 3200samples per second while the digital samples from the AGC 78 are outputat 9600 samples per second. Thus, the adaptive digital filter 94 is usedto match the sampling rate of the transmitter 62 with the sampling rateof the receiver 64 by interpolating the samples from the V.34 encoder 68up to the 9600 samples per second rate. To achieve this level ofinterpolation, k is typically set to three in a preferred embodiment.Note that because the transmitter 62 and the receiver 64 share the samelocal clock, the echo canceller 66 need not perform a clocksynchronization function in addition to the interpolation.

[0055] The adaptive digital filter 94 can be implemented as a finiteimpulse response (FIR) filter comprising a tapped delay line withassociated tap coefficients. The output from the adaptive digital filter94 is combined with the digitized signal from the AGC 78 in an adder 96.Desirably, the output from the adaptive digital filter 94 shouldcomplement the echo signal reflecting back from the local loop toeffectively cancel its effect upon the received PAM signal. Because thesymbols from the V.34 encoder 68 are generally encoded as complex valueswhen QAM modulation is used, the tap coefficients for the adaptivedigital filter 94 are designed to convert from the complex domain to thereal domain as the digital samples representing the PAM signals in thereceiver 64 are real values. Typically, the tap coefficients for theadaptive digital filter 94 are trained during a startup interval for theV.90 modem 60 in which test signals are transmitted from the transmitter62 and the coefficients are adjusted until the output from the adder 96is approximately null.

[0056] With reference now to FIG. 4, the architecture of the receiver 64will be described in greater detail. Information from a message source98, such as an ISP, is transmitted via a V.90 server modem 102 throughthe PSTN until reaching the local loop to which the client modemreceiver 64 is connected. The connection through the PSTN, including theline card in the central office 32, the local loop, and the front end ofthe receiver 64 (including the echo cancellation performed by the echocanceller 66 and the adder 96), are represented by the communicationpath 104 in FIG. 4.

[0057] As described above with reference to FIG. 3, the two-stageinterpolator 82 is used in conjunction with the decision feedbackequalizer 84 to match the sampling rate of the receiver 64 with thesampling rate of the network, which is 8000 samples per second. In apreferred embodiment, the sampling rate used by the A/D converter 76 andthe AGC 78 is 9600 samples per second. The decision feedback equalizer84 comprises a feed forward section 106 and a feed back section 108 andtypically provides some level of interpolation or decimation to thesampling rate. For example, in a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the feed forward section 106 receives input samples with asampling interval of T/q and filters these input samples through use ofa tapped delay line having a tap spacing of pT/q. Recall that Tcorresponds to the modulation interval, which is 1/8000 samples persecond (i.e., the network sampling rate) in a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention. The specific choice of values for p and q isgenerally based on a compromise between computational complexity,storage requirements, and bandwidth availability. In a preferredembodiment, p and q are set to three and four respectively; therefore,the two-stage interpolator 82 interpolates the digital samples from 9600samples per second up to 32000 samples per second. Then, once thesamples are decimated by the decision feedback equalizer 84, the digitalsamples are provided to the slicer/detector 88 at the network samplingrate of 8000 samples per second.

[0058]FIG. 5 shows the general structure of an adaptive FIR filter,which is a preferred implementation for the feed forward section 106,the feed back section 108, and the adaptive digital filter 94 (see FIG.3) used in the echo canceller 66. The operation of an FIR digital filtercan generally be represented by Equation 3 set forth below:$\begin{matrix}{Y_{n} = {\sum\limits_{k = 1}^{k = m}\quad {C_{k}^{n}X_{n - k}}}} & {{EQ}.\quad 3}\end{matrix}$

[0059] where Y_(n) is the output at time n, C_(k) ^(n) is the k^(th)coefficient at time n and X_(n−k) is the input at time n−k. Typically,the collection of samples X_(n−l) through X_(n−m) are stored in a tappeddelay line 112. The characteristics of the filter are determined by thevalues of the coefficients 114 at time n. Each coefficient is alsocalled a tap weight or tap coefficient. Each coefficient, C_(k) ^(n), isused to multiply the respective sample of X(t) through a correspondingmultiplier 116-i with the result that Y_(n) is equal to the sum of theproducts of the coefficients and the respective m samples of X(t), whichis output from a summer 118. This approach of generating output samplesY_(n) based on a weighted summation of prior-in-time input samplescombats the effects of noise, attenuation, and inter-symbol interference(ISI) due to delay and distortion caused by the equivalent channel 104.

[0060] Returning to FIG. 4, the feed forward section 106 is thus used tofilter the digital samples received from the two-stage interpolator 82to counteract the effects of channel amplitude and phase distortion dueto the equivalent channel 104. These filtered samples are then appliedto the slicer/detector 88 through an adder 122. The slicer/detector 88converts the digital samples from the output of the adder 122 to indicesby comparing the samples with a PAM signaling alphabet comprisingindexed reference signal levels. Ultimately, these indices are decodedinto a stream of digital data to be provided to the destination 124 thatcorresponds to the original data sent from the message source 98. Theslicer/detector 88 also outputs the reference signal levelscorresponding to these indices. This second output of theslicer/detector 88 is provided to the feed back section 108, the adder126, and the clock synchronizer 86.

[0061] A first feedback loop is formed through an adder 126 forcomputing the error signal, which is defined as the difference betweenthe received signal at the input of the slicer/detector 88 and thedetected signal as determined by the slicer/detector 88. This errorsignal is used to adapt the coefficients of the feed forward section 106and the feed back section 108 to the characteristics of the equivalentchannel 104. Nevertheless, should a momentary intrusion of noise causethe error signal to sharply increase in magnitude, a severe errordetector 128 is used to prevent an undesired disturbance to thecoefficients of the feed forward and feed back sections 106, 108. Thus,the severe error detector 128 provides a measure of stability for thedecision feedback equalizer 84 under transient high noise conditions.

[0062] A data rate selector component 132 computes the mean squaredequalizer error (MSE) by squaring and low pass filtering the errors fromthe adder 126. Moreover, the data rate selector 132 can select theoptimum data rate based on the MSE and the limit on average powerimposed by the applicable regulatory standard. The operation of both thedata rate selector 132 and the severe error detector 128 will bedescribed in greater detail hereinafter.

[0063] A second feedback loop is included that couples the output of theslicer/detector 88 through the feed back section 108 to the adder 122.The feed back section 108 is used to further refine the digital samplesthat are applied to the detector/slicer 88. Specifically, the signalsamples input to the feed back section 108 are reference signal levelsfrom the slicer/detector 88 and are thus uncorrupted by noise as long asthe slicer/detector 88 is correctly estimating or detecting thetransmitted PAM symbols. Therefore, the feed back section 108 isdesigned primarily to eliminate the effects of ISI due to the delaycharacteristics of the equivalent channel 104.

[0064] Finally, a third feedback loop is included that couples thesample output of the slicer/detector 88 as well as the error signal fromthe adder 126 through the clock synchronizer 86 to the two-stageinterpolator 82. As discussed in the foregoing, the two-stageinterpolator 82 in conjunction with the decision feedback equalizer 84is used to match the sampling rate of the receiver 64 with the samplingrate used by the codec in the central office 32. In addition to matchingthe sampling rate, however, it may also be necessary to synchronize thelocal clock used in the V.90 modem 60 with the network clock to reliablydemodulate and decode the incoming PAM signal. In accordance with thepresent invention, the clock synchronizer 86 controls the two-stageinterpolator 82 to synchronize the receiver 64 clock with the networkclock.

[0065] The basic concept of digital interpolation is illustrated in FIG.6. The input of the two-stage interpolator 82 is a sample x_(n) of atime varying, bandlimited PAM signal x(t) at time nT_(s) where T_(s) isthe sample interval (i.e., the inverse of the sample rate) at the inputof the two-stage interpolator 82. The sample rates at the input and theoutput of the two-stage interpolator 82 are subject to drift withrespect to one another because the output sample rate is locked by theclock synchronizer 86 to the network clock while the input sample rateis locked to the local lock of the client modem 60. The clocksynchronizer 86 determines the desired sampling instant t₁ at which theinput signal x(t) ought to be sampled using known techniques such asthose disclosed by Mueller et al., “Timing Recovery in DigitalSynchronous Data Receivers,” IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol.Com-24, No. 5, May 1976, pp. 516-531, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

[0066] Inasmuch as the only samples of x(t) that are available are atmultiples of T_(s), and t₁ falls in between two such sample instances(nT_(s) and (n+1)T_(s)), the two-stage interpolator 82 determines thesample Z_(n)=x(t₁) by interpolation as shown in FIG. 6. Interpolation isperformed in two steps to obtain a high resolution and to control thesampling instant in very fine increments. PCM modem receivers can sufferfrom coarse timing corrections because they typically operate at signalto noise ratios (SNRs) in the range of 45 dB to 55 dB.

[0067] With reference to FIG. 7, the two-stage interpolator 82 comprisesa polyphase interpolator, consisting of two polyphase interpolatorcomponents 129 and 131, that receive the input sample x_(n) and theclock signal of the client modem 60 and generate a pair of estimates,y_(n1) and y_(n2) respectively, of the signal x(t). FIG. 5, which wasdiscussed in detail hereinabove, is representative of the internalarchitecture of the polyphase interpolators 129 and 131. The two-stageinterpolator 82 further comprises a linear interpolator 133 that isconnected to the outputs of the polyphase interpolators 129 and 131 andgenerates the sample z_(n) from the estimates y_(n1) and Y_(n2). A timeconverter 135 provides an integer q to the polyphase interpolator 129and to an adder 137 that increments q by one and provides q+1 to thepolyphase interpolator 131. In addition, the time converter 135 providesa second integer r to the linear interpolator 133. The integers q and rare used by the polyphase interpolators 129 and 131 and the linearinterpolator 133 in generating their respective outputs. The operationof the two-stage interpolator 82 is described hereafter.

[0068] The polyphase interpolator 129 obtains y_(n1) as set forth inEquation 4:

y _(n1) =x(nT _(s) +qT _(s) /Q)  EQ. 4

[0069] and the polyphase interpolator 131 obtains y_(n2) as set forth inEquation 5:

y _(n2) =x(nT _(s)+(q+1)T _(s) /Q)  EQ. 5

[0070] where Q is the number of phases or coefficient vectors of therespective polyphase interpolator 129 or 131, andq=floor(Q((t−nT_(s))/T_(s)), 0≦q<Q. The linear interpolator 133 obtainsz_(n) as set forth in Equation 6: $\begin{matrix}{z_{n} = \frac{{(r)( y_{n1} )} + {( {L - r} )( y_{n2} )}}{L}} & {{EQ}.\quad 6}\end{matrix}$

[0071] where L is the resolution of the linear interpolator 133 and r isan integer satisfying 0≦r<L. The integer r is chosen such that thesampling instant t_(inter)=nT_(s)+qT_(s)/Q+rT_(s)/(L)(Q) is as close aspossible to t₁.

[0072] The integers q and r are generated by the time converter 135based on a sampling index s received from the clock synchronizer 86 (seeFIG. 4). The clock synchronizer 86 monitors the clock in the clientmodem 60 and determines a corresponding index n such that0≦delta=t−nT_(s)<T_(s). The sampling index is given bys=floor((L)(Q)(delta)/(T_(s))). The integer q can then be obtained asq=floor(s/L) and the integer r can be obtained as r=s−(L)(q). Forcomputational simplicity, L may be chosen as a power of two so that qcan be obtained from s by a right shift of log₂(L) bits. Moreover, theremainder r is then given by the low log₂(L) bits of s.

[0073] The two-stage interpolator 82 according to the present inventionprovides the ability to perform extremely fine timing corrections.Conventional polyphase interpolators provide a resolution in the rangeof T_(s)/16 to T_(s)/64. In an illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention in which Q=120 and L=64, the resolution of the two-stageinterpolator 82 is given by T_(s)/(L)(Q), which is 13.6 nanoseconds atT_(s)=1/9600. Such a fine resolution may be required to make thetwo-stage interpolator 82 essentially transparent for the subsequentequalization. That is, timing corrections do not result in transientincreases of the mean squared equalizer error. In addition, thetwo-stage interpolator 82 and clock synchronizer 86 are generally morecomputationally efficient than prior art timing recovery systems.

[0074] The various components comprising the receiver 64 are initializedas part of a multi-phase startup procedure for the V.90 modem 60. Forexample, the equalizer coefficients are initially set through aprocedure known as training. In addition, other tasks such as gaincontrol, network clock timing acquisition, and echo cancellationconvergence are also resolved during the startup interval.

[0075] The receiver structure described hereinabove lends itself to anefficient implementation requiring approximately eighteen millioninstructions per second (MIPS) in a typical digital signal processor.Moreover, the receiver structure is compatible with existing analogfront ends and transmitters designed for the V.34 or other comparablelegacy recommendation standards.

[0076] V.90 Client Modem Receiver Software Architecture

[0077] Referring now to FIG. 8, the software architecture for thereceiver 64 and echo canceller 66 of the V.90 client modem 60 will bedescribed. The client modem 60 includes a processor 134, preferably adigital signal processor, which communicates with a memory 136 via anaddress/data bus 138. In addition, the processor 134 can receive andtransmit information to external devices via a communication interface142, which is accessed through input/output (I/O) bus 144. The processor134 can be any commercially available or custom processor suitable for areal-time intensive embedded application. The memory 136 isrepresentative of the overall hierarchy of memory devices containing thesoftware and data used to implement the functionality of the V.90 clientmodem 60. The memory 136 can include, but is not limited to, thefollowing types of devices: cache, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash,SRAM, and DRAM. As shown in FIG. 8, the memory 136 includes programmodules for implementing the functionality of the components discussedin the foregoing with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. That is, memory 136includes a data rate selector program module 146, a polyphaseinterpolator program module 148, a clock synchronizer program module152, a severe error detector program module 154, an echo cancellerprogram module 156, a slicer program module 158, and a decision feedbackequalizer (DFE) program module 162. Each of these program modulescorresponds to a respective component of the V.90 client modem 60 shownin FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0078] The slicer program module 158 and the DFE program module 162include a decision training program sub-module 164 and a referencetraining program sub-module 166 respectively, which are used as part ofa signaling alphabet identification procedure in accordance with thepresent invention. The memory 136 further includes a startup programmodule 168 which implements the multi-phase startup protocol defined inthe V.90 recommendation. More specifically, the startup program module168 includes a line probing program sub-module 172 that is used in phasetwo of the multi-phase startup protocol defined in the V.90recommendation. The line probing program sub-module 172 further includesa tone reversal detection program sub-module 174 and an abnormal linecondition detection program sub-module 176. The tone reversal detectionprogram sub-module 174 provides an improved method for determining theround-trip delay between a server modem and a client modem during theline probing/ranging phase of the startup protocol.

[0079] The abnormal line condition detection program sub-module 176provides a method for efficiently falling back to a lower speedtransmission protocol, such as that provided by the V.34 recommendation,if the communication path between the server modem 102 and the clientmodem receiver 64 is incapable of supporting a V.90 connection.

[0080] The present invention is described hereinafter with reference toflowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus (systems), and computerprogram products according to an embodiment of the invention. It will beunderstood that each block of the flowchart illustrations, andcombinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations, can beimplemented by computer program instructions. These computer programinstructions can be provided to a processor of a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions,which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmabledata processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functionsspecified in the flowchart block or blocks.

[0081] These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meansthat implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.

[0082] The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause aseries of operational steps to be performed on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process suchthat the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

[0083] The operation and features provided by the decision trainingprogram and reference training program sub-modules 164 and 166, thesevere error detector program module 154, the data rate selector programmodule 146, the tone reversal detection program sub-module 174, and theabnormal line condition detection program sub-module 176 will bedescribed hereafter with reference to flow charts and with frequentreference to the architectural diagrams of FIGS. 3, 4, and 8.

[0084] Signaling Alphabet Learning Through Decision Training andReference Training

[0085] Successful operation of the V.90 receiver 64 may depend on anaccurate identification of the reference PAM signaling levels that areoften called the signaling alphabet or the signal constellation. Thedigital samples that have been filtered by the decision feedbackequalizer 84 are provided to the slicer/detector 88 where the samplesare compared against the signaling alphabet (i.e., indexed referencesignal levels). A determination is made with regard to which member ofthe alphabet or which point in the constellation the digital samplefalls closest to. Once the alphabet member is identified, the PCMcodeword corresponding to that alphabet member is selected as the symboltransmitted for that digital sample.

[0086] While a set of ideal signaling levels can be defined for thesignaling alphabet, the effective alphabet will consistently deviatefrom these ideal levels because of underlying digital impairmentsresulting from RBS and PAD. Understanding that these impairments will bechronic throughout the communication session, it is more efficient forthe receiver 64 to learn a new signaling alphabet that takes theseimpairments into account.

[0087] Nevertheless, alphabet identification is complicated in that theequalization process and the alphabet identification process areinter-dependent. Improved filtering of noise and transmission channelirregularities by the decision feedback equalizer 84 improvesidentification of the signaling alphabet at the slicer/detector 88. Inaddition, accurate alphabet identification at the slicer/detector 88provides a more accurate error signal at the adder 126 for adapting thetap coefficients in the feed forward section 106.

[0088] The present invention uses a combination of reference training,in which the tap coefficients of the decision feedback equalizer 84 areadapted without adjustments to the reference levels comprising thesignaling alphabet, and decision training or alphabet learning, in whichthe tap coefficients of the decision feedback equalizer 84 are adaptedin parallel with adjustments to the signaling alphabet.

[0089] Referring now to FIG. 9, the process begins at block 178 wherebaseline PAM thresholds or reference levels are established for each ofthe PCM codewords. At block 182, the tap coefficients for the decisionfeedback equalizer 84 are adjusted during a standard training intervalunder the control of the reference training program sub-module 166. Incooperation with the decision training program sub-module 164, thefrequency of the coefficient adjustment for the decision feedbackequalizer 84 is reduced at block 184 while, in parallel, a new signalingalphabet is constructed at the slicer/detector 88.

[0090] Each element of the new signaling alphabet is determined bycollecting a sufficient number of digital samples from the decisionfeedback equalizer 84 that are decoded into the same PCM codeword andthen computing their average at block 186. This average value is thenused as a candidate for the new alphabet member or constellation pointfor that particular PCM codeword at block 188. A determination is thenmade at block 192 whether the signaling alphabet has been updated yetfor all of the PCM codewords. Blocks 186 and 188 are repeatedly executeduntil the entire alphabet has been adjusted. The frequency at which theequalizer coefficients are updated is reduced at block 184 to preventthe equalizer training process and the alphabet learning process fromworking against one another. More specifically, this avoids thecondition of the decision feedback equalizer 84 attempting to chase amoving signaling alphabet.

[0091] Thus, the improved accuracy in the signaling alphabet referencelevels results in a more accurate error signal being fed back to thedecision feedback equalizer 84 through the adder 126, which furtherreduces the mean squared error from the decision feed back equalizer 84.

[0092] Advantageously, an identified signaling alphabet can also be usedfor constructing a signaling alphabet for transmission thatpre-compensates for the digital impairments already learned.

[0093] Severe Error Detection

[0094] Decision feedback equalizers are used in many modem designsbecause of their ability to provide high SNRs. One drawback to thisimproved SNR performance, however, is the tendency for the equalizer tobecome unstable. In particular, incorrect decisions by theslicer/detector 88 due to noise can cause two negative effects: Aprimary effect is that the errors can propagate for many sampling ormodulation intervals after they were made because the errors arerepeatedly fed back via the feedback loop. A secondary effect is thatthe tap coefficients for the decision feedback equalizer 84 filters arepulled away from their desired, steady state, operating points.Moreover, the more dramatic the error, the greater the disturbance tothe equalizer coefficients.

[0095] Accordingly, the severe error detector 128 under the control ofthe severe error detector program module 154 provides stability for thedecision feedback equalizer 84 under extreme noise conditions that cancause severe errors in the receiver 64.

[0096] With reference to FIG. 10A, the severe error detector programmodule 148 defines the maximum limits for valid members of the signalingalphabet (i.e., indexed reference signal levels) or constellation pointsat block 194. This is illustrated best in FIG. 11 where a constellationdiagram is shown in which four ideal reference levels are defined alongthe real axis. Note that for PAM signaling, all constellation pointsfall on the real axis unlike QAM signaling in which the constellationpoints fall in the various quadrants in two-dimensional space. Thedashed lines in FIG. 11 represent the decision boundaries used by theslicer/detector 88 in correlating the digital sample from the decisionfeedback equalizer 84 with a particular constellation point andultimately a PCM codeword. The two outer boundaries, Z_(r) Limit and —Z₄Limit, correspond to the outermost points in the constellation plus thevalue representing one half of the distance between valid constellationpoints (minus the value representing one half of the distance betweenvalid constellation points for —Z_(r) Limit). These two boundariesprovide the maximum limits for a valid PAM signal.

[0097] Returning to FIG. 10A, the decision feedback equalizer 84 outputsignal from the adder 122 is received by the severe error detector 128at block 196. Three determinations are then made, in no particularorder, as represented by blocks 198, 202, and 204. At block 198, adetermination is made whether the sample from the decision feedbackequalizer 84 exceeds the maximum limits from block 194. A seconddetermination is made at block 202 whether the decision feedbackequalizer is in a data transmission mode. Finally, a determination ismade at block 204 whether a flag is set that allows the tap coefficientsof the decision feedback equalizer 84 to be updated. If the result ofany of these three determinations is no, then the process continues byfollowing termination B to block 206 in FIG. 10B. Otherwise, the processcontinues by following termination A to block 208 in FIG. 10B.

[0098] If termination A is followed, then this means that the samplefrom the decision feedback equalizer 84 exceeds the maximum limits fromblock 194, which qualifies as a severe error event. Moreover, thedecision feedback equalizer 84 is in a data reception mode and updatingof the tap coefficients for the decision feedback equalizer 84 isallowed. Accordingly, a severe error counter is incremented by a sev_errconstant value in block 208. A determination is made at block 212 if asevere error threshold value has been exceeded. That is, have enoughsevere error events accumulated to justify taking action to stabilizethe decision feedback equalizer 84. If the severe error count hasexceeded the threshold value, then error recovery is optionally invokedat block 214 to allow the receiver 64 to drop down to a lower data rate.In addition, the tap coefficients for the decision feedback equalizer 84are frozen at their current values at block 216 to prevent them frombeing radically changed due to the out of range PAM samples beingreceived at the slicer/detector 88. Freezing the coefficients at block216 by setting a flag to the appropriate logic value ensures that futuredeterminations at block 204 are no, as there would be no need tomanipulate the severe error counter while the coefficients are frozen.

[0099] Conversely, if termination B is followed, then the sample fromthe decision feedback equalizer 84 is within the range of validconstellation points, the decision feedback equalizer 84 is not in adata transmission mode, or the decision feedback equalizer 84coefficients are currently frozen. For these cases, the severe errorcounter is decremented by a no_err constant value at block 206. A checkis made at block 218 to determine if the severe error counter dropsbelow zero so that the counter can be reset to zero at block 222 shouldthat occur.

[0100] The severe error detector program module program 154 implements aleaky bucket in that as severe errors are detected a counter isincremented according to a first time constant (i.e., the sev_errvalue). And when valid PAM samples are detected or the decision feedbackequalizer 84 is in a mode in which errors are ignored, the counter isdecremented according to a second time constant (i.e., the no_errvalue). The first and second time constants and severe error thresholdvalue used at block 212 are chosen to provide suitable sensitivity tosevere errors without thrusting the receiver 64 into error recovery orfreezing the tap coefficients too frequently. In a preferred embodiment,the first time constant is set to 50 and the second time constant is setto one. The first time constant can be set heuristically based on thelevel of memory desired in the circuit that is detecting severe errorevents. Furthermore, it was found that a value of 200 for the severeerror threshold was appropriate for channels that have relatively littlepassband distortion, and a value of 150 is appropriate for channels withmore passband distortion.

[0101] The severe error detector 128 and severe error detector program154 according to the present invention can be particularly useful incertain countries that use metering pulses in their central offices tofacilitate call billing. These pulses are typically sent out every 30 to40 seconds, which can cause a sufficient disturbance to create severeerrors for the decision feedback equalizer 84.

[0102] It should also be understood that while the severe error detector128 is described herein in the context of a V.90 modem receiver, theprinciples are applicable, in general, to any decision feedbackequalizer arrangement whether in a modem receiver or other digitalsignal processing system.

[0103] Data Rate Selection

[0104] As discussed in the foregoing description of the severe errordetector 128 and associated severe error detector program module 154,incorrect decisions by the slicer/detector 88 due to noise can causecatastrophic failure of the decision feedback equalizer 84 as the errorsare repeatedly fed back over several demodulation cycles and the tapcoefficients are drastically altered from their desired steady statevalues.

[0105] While the severe error detector 128 addressed the problem ofsamples falling outside of the valid signaling alphabet orconstellation, incorrect decoding of samples still within theconstellation of valid points also causes the tap coefficients of thedecision feedback equalizer 84 to be improperly updated. As can be seenfrom the simple constellation diagram of FIG. 11, however, reducing thedata rate results in elimination of points from the constellation thusincreasing the distance between valid points. If the distance betweenvalid constellation points is large enough to encompass the accompanyingnoise, then the slicer/detector 88 can make a correct decision withregard to the transmitted PAM signal level and the appropriate PCMcodeword will be selected. Furthermore, the error vectors fed back tothe decision feedback equalizer 84 will be useful for updating the tapcoefficients.

[0106] The data rate selector 132 and data rate selector program module146 according to the present invention provide a method for selectingthe optimum data rate at which the slicer/detector 88 can make validdecisions, thus preserving the stability of the decision feedbackequalizer 84. With reference to FIG. 12, the data rate selector 132comprises an average error calculator module 224 that computes theaverage error value for a block of N samples from the adder 126. Theoutput from the average calculator module 224 is received by a peaklimiter module 226 to lessen the impact of short error bursts. After theaverage error has been peak limited, it is filtered by a low pass filter228. The low pass filter 228 removes the effect of sharp variations inthe average error due to noise bursts of short duration. The output fromthe low pass filter 228 is provided to both an SNR calculator module 232and to a multiplier 234, which feeds back the filtered output multipliedby a scaling factor 236 to the peak limiter module 226. In a preferredembodiment of the present invention, a scaling factor of two is used topeak limit the average error to twice the current value as output fromthe low pass filter 228.

[0107] The SNR calculator module 232 calculates the SNR using theaverage error value output from the low pass filter 228. The SNR isdefined as set forth below in Equation 4:

SNR=10 log₁₀(Signal power/Noise power)  EQ. 7

[0108] In a specific, fixed-point implementation of a preferredembodiment of the present invention, it can be shown that, throughnormalization, Equation 4 can be rewritten below as Equation 5:

SNR=10 log₁₀(2¹⁵/(LPF_error/2¹⁶))  EQ. 8

[0109] where LPF_error is the average error output from the low passfilter 228.

[0110] The SNR value from the SNR calculator module 232 is combined withan SNR adjustment from an SNR adjuster module 235 in an adder 237. TheSNR value output from the adder 237 is then optionally combined with apenalty value from an SNR penalizer module 238 in an adder 242. Thisfinal SNR value output from the adder 242 is used by a rate selectormodule 244 to index a table containing data rate values associated withSNR values. The data rate associated with the SNR value from the rateselector module 244 can be used by the receiver 64 to run substantiallyerror free assuming the entries in the table 246 have been selectedproperly. Under certain line conditions, the data rate selection basedon the SNR can be overridden and the data rate forced to a minimumdefault value.

[0111] The operation of the data rate selector 132 and the data rateselector program module 146 is described hereafter with reference toFIGS. 13A and 13B. The data rate selection process begins at block 248where the average error calculator module 224 computes the average errorfor N PCM symbols. A determination is made at block 252 whether theaverage error has exceeded the peak threshold value. If the peak limithas been exceeded, then the peak limiter module 226 will limit theaverage error to the peak threshold value at block 254 before low passfiltering the average error at block 256. This filtered average errorvalue is used to set the new peak threshold value for the subsequentiteration of the process as represented by block 258. Recall from thediscussion of the peak limiter module 226 of FIG. 12 that the peakthreshold value may be set to twice the current filtered average errorvalue from the low pass filter 228 in a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

[0112] The SNR is computed by the SNR calculator module 232 at block 262using the average error value from the low pass filter 228 as discussedhereinbefore. Following termination A to FIG. 13B, the process continuesat block 264 where an adjustment is made to the computed SNR value.During startup, the SNR is adjusted upward by adding a bonus amount tothe SNR value. This boost provides the decision feedback equalizer 84with more time to eventually converge to a higher SNR than would havebeen reached had the bonus amount not been added. Over time, this bonusamount is subtracted from the SNR at block 264 as the calculated SNRnaturally rises to its final value. Essentially, the SNR adjustmentblock 264 provides a mechanism for the data rate selector program 146 toanticipate a final, steady state SNR and to improve the performance ofthe receiver 64 during the interim time taken for the SNR to reach thisfinal value.

[0113] A penalty amount is subtracted from the adjusted SNR value atblock 266 based on the number of errors incurred as defined by, forexample, the V.42 recommendation from the ITU that defines error controlprocedures on analog circuits. This penalty amount can also be enteredthrough the communication interface 142 of the V.90 modem 60 by anoperator using the attention code AT command set. An operator canthereby control how aggressive the modem 60 will be in attempting toconnect at the maximum possible data rate based on the SNR.

[0114] If the line conditions are unacceptable as determined at block268, then the data rate selection process based on the SNR is bypassedand a connection is established at a minimum data rate at block 272. Theminimum data rate that is used as a default can be stored in the table246, held elsewhere in the memory 136, or stored in another locationaccessible by the data rate selector program module 146. An example of aline condition that could force a selection of the minimum data rate isif there is ambiguity in detecting the influence of PADs in thecommunication path.

[0115] If the line conditions are acceptable, then the data rate isselected from the table 246 at block 274 by using the SNR value as anindex or key to retrieve a data rate associated with that SNR value. Thetable 246 is constructed through experimentation in which the data rateis increased for a given SNR value until errors are incurred at thereceiver 64.

[0116] In addition to using the table for data rate selection, it mayalso be useful to relate the SNR to the spacing between points in thePAM signaling alphabet or constellation. This spacing ultimatelytranslates into an allowable data rate in the client modem 60 because,for a fixed power level, a closer spacing results in more usable pointsin the constellation.

[0117] The following equations are derived based on a V.90implementation in which a server modem encodes data for transmission tothe client modem 60 in a data frame comprising a six-symbol structure.Each symbol position within the data frame is called a data frameinterval. These equations can be implemented by program logic in thedata rate selector program module 146 in accordance with the presentinvention.

[0118] An upper bound for the probability of error, P_(e), based on aminimum spacing, d_(min), between constellation points is given byEquation 9 below: $\begin{matrix}{P_{e} \leq {\frac{1}{6}{\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{5}\quad {\sum\limits_{m = 0}^{M_{i - 1}}\quad {2{Q( \frac{d_{\min}}{2\quad \sigma} )}\frac{n_{i,m}}{2^{K}}}}}}} & {{EQ}.\quad 9}\end{matrix}$

[0119] where M_(i) is equal to the number of positive levels in theconstellation to be used in a data frame interval i, n_(i,m) is equal isthe frequency of occurrence of the signal level indexed by m in intervali, K is the number of bits encoded by the server modem in the dataframe, and Q(x) is the area under the tail of the Gaussian probabilitydensity function, which is defined by Equation 10: $\begin{matrix}{{{Q(x)} = {\frac{1}{\sqrt{2\quad \pi}}{\int_{x}^{\infty}{^{{- t^{2}}/2}\quad {t}}}}},{x \geq 0}} & {{EQ}.\quad 10}\end{matrix}$

[0120] After performing some algebraic simplification, the upper boundon the probability of error, P_(e), can be rewritten as Equation 11:$\begin{matrix}{P_{e} \leq {2{Q( \frac{d_{\min}}{2\quad \sigma} )}}} & {{EQ}.\quad 11}\end{matrix}$

[0121] To obtain a lower bound on the probability of error, P_(e), theminimum and maximum spacing between constellation points are defined inEquations 12 and 13, respectively, as follows: $\begin{matrix}{{d_{\min,i} = {\min \{ d_{i,m} \}}},{0 \leq m \leq {M_{i} - 1}}} & {{EQ}.\quad 12} \\{{d_{\max,i} = {\max \{ d_{\min,i} \}}},{0 \leq i \leq 5}} & {{EQ}.\quad 13}\end{matrix}$

[0122] A lower bound for the probability of error, P_(e), is thus givenby Equation 14: $\begin{matrix}{P_{e} \geq {\frac{1}{6}{\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{5}\quad {\sum\limits_{m = {M_{i} - c_{i}}}^{M_{i - 1}}\quad {2{Q( \frac{d_{\max}}{2\quad \sigma} )}\frac{n_{i,m}}{2^{K}}}}}}} & {{EQ}.\quad 14}\end{matrix}$

[0123] where c_(i) is the number of points at the minimum spacingdistance. Note that the smallest index value (m=0) corresponds to thelargest signal level in the constellation while the largest index value(m=M_(i)−1) corresponds to the smallest signal level in theconstellation.

[0124] After performing some algebraic simplification to separate aconstant term, C_(L), the lower bound on the probability of error,P_(e), can be rewritten as Equation 15: $\begin{matrix}{{P_{e} \geq {C_{L}{Q( \frac{d_{\max}}{2\quad \sigma} )}}}{where}} & {{EQ}.\quad 15} \\{C_{L} = {\frac{1}{6}{\sum\limits_{i = 0}^{5}\quad {\sum\limits_{m = {M_{i} - c_{i}}}^{M_{i} - 1}\frac{n_{i,m}}{2^{K - 1}}}}}} & {{EQ}.\quad 16}\end{matrix}$

[0125] By combining Equations 11 and 15, the bounds on symbol errorprobability can be expressed as follows in Equation 17: $\begin{matrix}{{C_{L}{Q( \frac{d_{\max}}{2\quad \sigma} )}} \leq P_{e} \leq {C_{U}{Q( \frac{d_{\min}}{2\quad \sigma} )}}} & {{EQ}.\quad 17}\end{matrix}$

[0126] where C_(U)=2.

[0127] For given values of d_(min) and P_(e), the upper bound on themean squared error at the output of the decision feedback equalizer 84,which is based on the error signal generated by the adder 126 (see FIG.4), is given by Equation 18: $\begin{matrix}{\sigma^{2} \leq \frac{d_{\min}^{2}}{4{Q_{inv}^{2}( \frac{P_{e}}{C_{U}} )}}} & {{EQ}.\quad 18}\end{matrix}$

[0128] where Q_(inv) is the inverse of Q(x) defined above. Similarly,the lower bound on the mean squared error at the output of the decisionfeedback equalizer 84 is given by Equation 19: $\begin{matrix}{\sigma^{2} \geq \frac{d_{\max}^{2}}{4\quad {Q_{inv}^{2}( \frac{P_{e}}{C_{L}} )}}} & {{EQ}.\quad 19}\end{matrix}$

[0129] The mean squared error from Equations 18 and 19 can be used inEquation 8 to generate upper and lower bounds for the SNR for a specificerror probability and minimum spacing between constellation points inthe PAM signaling alphabet. Likewise, for a given SNR or mean squarederror at the output of the decision feedback equalizer 84, the minimumspacing between constellation points can be obtained based on the errorprobability, which translates into a corresponding data rate.

[0130] Tone Reversal Detection During Startup

[0131] The V.90 recommendation specifies that in phase two of thestartup protocol, the client modem 60 shall transmit a tone A, followedby a phase reversal of the tone A, which is followed by a second phasereversal of the tone A (i.e., the original tone A) to the server modem102. The server modem 102 uses the events of receiving the first andsecond phase reversals of tone A to calculate the round trip delaybetween the server modem 102 and the client modem 60. Because of delaysinserted by both the server modem 102 and the client modem 60, theelapsed time between detection of the first tone A phase reversal andthe second tone A phase reversal should never be less than approximately80 ms. Unfortunately, the V.90 recommendation provides no error recoveryprocedure should the server modem 102 detect a second tone A phasereversal within 80 ms as a result of noise or the client modem 60transmitting the second tone A phase reversal prematurely.

[0132] The tone reversal detection program module 174 in accordance withthe present invention provides a procedure for recovering from aprematurely detected tone A phase reversal. It should be noted that theprinciples discussed hereafter with respect to tone reversal detectionin a V.90 communication session are equally applicable to V.34 . In aV.34 session, however, the roles of the client modem 60 and server modem102 are typically reversed. Thus, for a V.34 implementation in which theround trip delay is calculated based on the first and second phasereversals of tone A, the tone reversal detection program module 174typically resides at the client modem 60 as shown in FIG. 8. In a V.90session in which the round trip delay is calculated based on the firstand second phase reversals of tone A, the tone reversal detectionprogram module 174 would typically reside at the server modem 102.Nevertheless, it should be further understood that both the V.90 and theV.34 recommendations provide for the calculation of the round trip delayat both the server modem 102 and the client modem 60. The tone reversalerror recovery procedure according to the present invention is describedfirst in the context of the round trip delay calculation being performedat the server modem 102 for V.90 and at the client modem 60 for V.34 .

[0133] The tone reversal error recovery procedure is described hereafterwith reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 14A and 14B, and the tonesequencing diagram of FIG. 15. Referring now to FIG. 14A, the processbegins at block 276 where the server modem 102, under the control of thetone reversal detection program module 174, transmits a tone B to theclient modem 60 and conditions its receiver to detect tone A followed bya phase reversal of tone A. FIG. 16 illustrates the difference betweentone A and a phase reversal of tone A. A phase reversal of tone A istone A shifted 180° on the complex plane. After detecting tone A atblock 278 and a subsequent tone A phase reversal at block 282, a timeris started or a timestamp is recorded at block 284. The server modem 102delays for approximately 40 ms, as shown in FIG. 15, at which time theserver modem 102 transmits a phase reversal of tone B and conditions itsreceiver to detect a second phase reversal of tone A (i.e., the originaltone A) at block 286.

[0134] When the client modem 60 receives the tone B phase reversal sentfrom the server modem 102, it will delay approximately 40 ms beforesending a second tone A phase reversal to the server modem 102 as shownin FIG. 15. After detecting the second tone A phase reversal at block288, the server modem 102 stops the timer or records a second timestampat block 292. Following termination B to FIG. 14B, a determination ismade at block 294 whether the timer value is less than a minimumthreshold value. As illustrated in FIG. 15, the difference in the timeror timestamp values between blocks 292 and 284 should equal the roundtrip delay plus 80 ms due to the 40 ms delay by the server modem 102upon receiving the first tone A phase reversal plus a second 40 ms delayby the client modem 60 upon receiving the tone B phase reversal. Thus,the timer value should never be less than approximately 80 ms in theory,but to account for minor variations in modem operations, a minimumthreshold value of approximately 70 ms is used in a preferred embodimentof the present invention.

[0135] If the timer value exceeds the minimum threshold value, then theround trip delay can be reliably calculated and phase two (lineprobing/ranging) of the startup protocol continues at block 296.Otherwise, if the timer value is less than the minimum threshold value,then a premature detection of the second tone A phase reversal hasoccurred. In that instance, the server modem 102 inhibits thetransmission of tone B (i.e., prevents the acknowledgement that thesecond tone A phase reversal was properly received) to the client modem60 and conditions its receiver to detect tone A at block 298. The clientmodem 60 will eventually transmit tone A where it is detected at theserver modem 102. The server modem 102 then transmits tone B andconditions its receiver to detect a first phase reversal of tone A atblock 302. The tone reversal sequence continues by following terminationA to block 282 of FIG. 14A.

[0136] Thus, the tone reversal detection program module 174 provides aprocedure for detecting premature instances of the second tone A phasereversal, which, left undetected, could cause the communication sessionbetween the server modem 102 and the client modem 60 to breakdownfurther into the multi-phase startup protocol.

[0137] It should be understood that the operation of the tone reversaldetection program module 174 described hereinabove pertains to apreferred implementation that is compliant with the V.90 and V.34recommendations. That is, an implementation in which round trip delay iscalculated at the server modem 102 in V.90 and the client modem 60 inV.34 . Nevertheless, an alternative implementation of the tone reversaldetection program module 174 can allow the round trip delay to becalculated at the client modem 60 in V.90 and the server modem 102 inV.34 .

[0138] In this alternative implementation, the exchange of tones betweenthe server modem 102 and the client modem 60 remains the same as shownin FIG. 15. The tone reversal detection program module 174 resides atthe client modem 60 (i.e., a V.90 alternative implementation), however,for calculating the round trip delay. Specifically, a timer is startedor a timestamp is recorded by the tone reversal detection program module174 at the client modem 60 upon transmitting tone A in response toreceiving tone B from the server modem 102. The client modem 60transmits tone A for approximately 50 ms and then transmits a phasereversal of tone A. Upon receiving the tone A phase reversal, the servermodem 102 delays for approximately 40 ms and then transmits a phasereversal of tone B. When the tone B phase reversal is detected at theclient modem 60, the timer is stopped or a second timestamp is recorded.The difference in timer or timestamp values should equal the round tripdelay plus 90 ms. Thus, the timer value should never be less thanapproximately 90 ms in theory, but to account for minor variations inmodem operations, a minimum threshold value of approximately 80 ms ispreferably used.

[0139] If the timer value exceeds the minimum threshold value, then theround trip delay can be reliably calculated. Otherwise, if the timervalue is less than the minimum threshold value, then a prematuredetection of the tone B phase reversal from the server modem 102 hasoccurred. In this instance, the client modem 60 inhibits transmission ofthe second tone A phase reversal (i.e., prevents the acknowledgment thatthe tone B phase reversal was properly received) and conditions itsreceiver to receive tone B. Upon detecting tone B, the client modemtransmits tone A for approximately 50 ms and the process repeats asdiscussed in the foregoing.

[0140] Advantageously, the tone reversal detection program module 174 inaccordance with the present invention can be used to reliably calculatethe round trip delay from either end of both a V.34 communicationsession and a V.90 communication session.

[0141] Abnormal Line Condition Detection and Data Rate Fall Back

[0142] One of the characteristics of V.90 communication is that thecommunication path from the server modem 102 to the central officeservicing the client modem 60 is typically digital. That is, the onlyA/D conversion in the entire path between the server modem 102 and theclient modem 60 is at the client modem 60 itself. Any extra A/Dconversions in the path downstream from the server modem 102 may resultin digital discontinuity and may prevent establishment of a V.90connection. In addition to digital discontinuity, other characteristicsof the communication path could also prevent the establishment of a V.90connection. For example, the PAM signal could be severely attenuated bythe local loop connecting the client modem 60 to the central office.Alternatively, the local loop could exhibit a non-linear frequencyresponse, which would result in an abnormally low SNR in the clientmodem receiver 64 that would not support V.90 reception.

[0143] The abnormal line condition detection program module 176 providesa procedure for detecting the aforementioned irregularities (i.e.,abnormal line conditions) using the results from the line probingperformed as part of the phase two startup procedures. If theseirregularities are detected, then the client modem 60 can choose to fallback to a lower data rate protocol, such as V.34 , at the end of phasetwo rather than waiting for the connection to fail during a later phase.

[0144] Referring now to FIG. 17A and the tone and message sequencediagram of FIG. 18, the process begins at block 304 where the clientmodem 60 conditions its receiver 64 to detect tone B and subsequentlydetects tone B transmitted from the server modem 102. The client modem60 then transmits tone A followed by a tone A phase reversal after whichit conditions its receiver to detect a tone B phase reversal at block306. The tone B phase reversal is detected at the client modem 60 atblock 308 after which the client modem 60 conditions its receiver todetect the line probing signals L1 and L2. The line probing signals L1and L2 are periodic signals that consist of a set of tones spaced 150 Hzapart and ranging from 150 Hz to 3750 Hz.

[0145] The line probing signals L1 and L2 are detected by the clientmodem 60 at block 312. The client modem 60 then transmits tone A to theserver modem 102 and conditions its receiver to receive an INFO_(1d)message at block 314. If the modems were attempting to establish a V.34connection from the beginning and falling back to a lower data ratewithin the V.34 protocol, then the procedure remains identical exceptthat an INFO_(1c) message is used in the alternative. The INFO_(1c/d)messages contain information regarding power reduction at the servermodem 102 transmitter, details regarding pre-emphasis filters used atthe server modem 102 transmitter, and other information for the clientmodem 60.

[0146] Following termination A to FIG. 17B, the client modem 60 detectsthe INFO_(1c/d) message from the server modem 102 at block 316. Theclient modem 60 then calculates the minimum mean-square-error (MSE) atthe receiver 64 for the 3429 symbol per second rate based on anevaluation of the line probing signals L1 and L2 detected at block 312.The minimum MSE is calculated by comparing the frequency response curveof the analog loop with an ideal response to determine if the loopattenuation is too great to support V.90 communication. If the minimumMSE is greater than a first threshold value as determined at block 318,then termination B is followed to block 322 where the V.34 mode will bechosen (or a lower data rate if the modems are currently attempting toestablish a V.34 connection) as a fall back data rate.

[0147] To check for digital discontinuity in the communication path, theMSE at 3429 baud is first compared with a second threshold value atblock 323. The second threshold value is less than the first thresholdvalue used in the comparison made at block 318. If this second thresholdvalue is exceeded, then a second test is performed at block 324 in whichthe minimum MSE is computed for the 3200 symbol per second rate and theratio of the MSE at 3429 baud and the MSE at 3200 baud is compared to athird threshold value. If this third threshold value is exceeded, thentermination B is followed to fall back to a lower data rate protocol.

[0148] If the comparisons made at blocks 318, 323 and 324 fail to detecteither severe attenuation or digital discontinuity, then at block 326the harmonic distortion is measured at 900 Hz, 1200 Hz, 1800 Hz, and2400 Hz. These four frequencies are excluded from the L1 and L2 probingsignals thereby allowing the client modem 60 to use the harmonicdistortion measurement at these frequencies as an indicator ofnon-linearity in the local loop. The harmonic distortion at theaforementioned frequencies is squared and summed to create a totalharmonic measurement that is then compared with a fourth threshold valueat block 328. If the fourth threshold value is exceeded, thentermination B is followed to fall back to a lower data rate protocol.

[0149] If the tests performed at blocks 318, 324, and 328 fail to detectany abnormal line conditions, then the V.90 mode is chosen at block 332.Following termination D to FIG. 17C, the client modem 60 transmits theINFO_(1a) message at block 334 with the appropriate bits set accordingto whether V.90 mode was chosen at block 332 or V.34 mode was chosen atblock 322. Similarly, if the modems were attempting to establish a V.34connection originally, then the fall back rate could be to a low datarate in accordance with the V.34 protocol. The server modem 102 and theclient modem 60 then proceed to the subsequent phase in the startupprocedure at block 336, which involves equalizer and echo cancellertraining. If the line conditions have necessitated a fall back to V.34then the subsequent phases of the startup procedure will be executed inaccordance with the V.34 recommendation. Conversely, if the linecondition will support a V.90 connection, then the subsequent phases ofthe startup procedure will be executed in accordance with the V.90recommendation.

[0150] Advantageously, the abnormal line condition detection programmodule 176 in accordance with the present invention provides a procedurefor detecting abnormal line conditions that will ultimately prevent theestablishment of a V.90 connection early in the startup procedure. As aresult, the server modem 102 and the client modem 60 can immediatelyfall back to a lower data rate protocol and continue with the startupprocedure for the lower data rate protocol. This early fall backprocedure is more reliable and efficient than proceeding to later phasesin the startup procedure in accordance with the higher data rateprotocol only to be forced to fall back later and repeat phases for thelower data rate protocol that were needlessly performed for the higherdata rate protocol.

[0151] The flow charts of FIGS. 9, 10A-10B, 13A-13B, 14A-14B, and17A-17C show the architecture, functionality, and operation of apossible implementation of the client modem receiver 64 software. Inthis regard, each block represents a module, segment, or portion ofcode, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblocks may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantiallyconcurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved.

[0152] While the present invention has been illustrated and described indetail in the drawings and foregoing description, it is understood thatthe embodiments shown are merely exemplary. Moreover, it is understoodthat many variations and modifications can be made to the embodimentsdescribed hereinabove without substantially departing from theprinciples of the present invention. All such variations andmodifications are intended to be included herein within the scope of thepresent invention, as set forth in the following claims.

We claim:
 1. A method for selecting a data rate in a modem based on aplurality of error signals, each error signal representing thedifference between an output of an equalizer module and an output of adetector module, comprising the steps of: computing an average errorvalue from the plurality of error signals; determining a signal to noiseratio using the average error value; and selecting the data rate basedon the signal to noise ratio.
 2. A method as recited in claim 1, furthercomprising the steps of: limiting the average error value to a maximumthreshold to generate a limited average error value; and wherein thedetermining step comprises the step of determining a signal to noiseratio using the limited average error value.
 3. A method as recited inclaim 2, further comprising the steps of: filtering the limited averageerror value through a low pass filter to generate a filtered limitedaverage error value; and wherein the determining step comprises the stepof determining a signal to noise ratio using the filtered limitedaverage error value.
 4. A method as recited in claim 3, furthercomprising the step of: multiplying the filtered limited average errorvalue by a scaling factor.
 5. A method as recited in claim 4, whereinthe maximum threshold is equal to the filtered limited average errorvalue multiplied by the scaling factor.
 6. A method as recited in claim5, wherein the scaling factor is approximately two.
 7. A method asrecited in claim 1, further comprising the step of: incrementing thesignal to noise ratio by a bonus amount.
 8. A method as recited in claim7, wherein the value of the bonus amount increases the signal to noiseratio to a projected final signal to noise ratio.
 9. A method as recitedin claim 8, further comprising the step of: periodically decrementingthe signal to noise ratio over a time period until the bonus amount hasbeen removed.
 10. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising thestep of: adjusting the signal to noise ratio by a penalty amount.
 11. Amethod as recited in claim 10, wherein the penalty amount is related toa number of incorrect symbols detected by the detector module.
 12. Amethod as recited in claim 10, wherein the penalty amount is set throughan attention code command.
 13. A method as recited in claim 1, whereinthe selecting step comprises the step of choosing the data rate from atable uniquely associating signal to noise ratio values with data ratevalues.
 14. A method as recited in claim 13, further comprising thesteps of: evaluating a frequency response of a communication channel;eliminating the computing, determining, and selecting steps if theevaluation of the frequency response indicates the communication channelis incapable of supporting data transmission at all but a lowest datarate value stored in the table; and setting the data rate to a minimumdata rate that is not greater than the lowest data rate value stored inthe table if the evaluation of the frequency response indicates thecommunication channel is incapable of supporting data transmission atall but the lowest data rate value stored in the table.
 15. A method forselecting a data rate in a modem that includes an equalizer module and adetector module, comprising the steps of: determining a mean squarederror of a signal, the mean squared error representing a differencebetween an output of the equalizer module and an output of the detectormodule; and selecting the data rate based on a probability of error indetecting a symbol at the detector module and the mean squared error.16. A method as recited in claim 15, wherein the determining stepcomprises the step of: computing the mean squared error based on asignal to noise ratio.
 17. A modem having a data rate selectioncapability based on a plurality of error signals, each error signalrepresenting the difference between an output of an equalizer module andan output of a detector module, comprising: means for computing anaverage error value from the plurality of error signals; means fordetermining a signal to noise ratio using the average error value; andmeans for selecting the data rate based on the signal to noise ratio.18. A modem as recited in claim 17, further comprising: means forlimiting the average error value to a maximum threshold to generate alimited average error value, the means for determining being responsiveto the limited average error value.
 19. A modem as recited in claim 18,further comprising: a low pass filter for filtering the limited averageerror value to generate a filtered limited average error value, themeans for determining being responsive to the filtered limited averageerror value.
 20. A modem as recited in claim 19, further comprising:means for multiplying the filtered limited average error value by ascaling factor.
 21. A modem as recited in claim 20, wherein the maximumthreshold is equal to the filtered limited average error valuemultiplied by the scaling factor.
 22. A modem as recited in claim 21,wherein the scaling factor is approximately two.
 23. A modem as recitedin claim 17, further comprising means for incrementing the signal tonoise ratio by a bonus amount.
 24. A modem as recited in claim 23,wherein the value of the bonus amount increases the signal to noiseratio to a projected final signal to noise ratio.
 25. A modem as recitedin claim 24, further comprising: means for periodically decrementing thesignal to noise ratio over a time period until the bonus amount has beenremoved.
 26. A modem as recited in claim 17, further comprising: meansfor adjusting the signal to noise ratio by a penalty amount.
 27. A modemas recited in claim 26, wherein the penalty amount is related to anumber of incorrect symbols detected by the detector module.
 28. A modemas recited in claim 26, wherein the penalty amount is set through anattention code command.
 29. A modem as recited in claim 17, wherein themeans for selecting comprises means for choosing the data rate from atable uniquely associating signal to noise ratio values with data ratevalues.
 30. A modem as recited in claim 29, further comprising: meansfor evaluating a frequency response of a communication channel; andmeans for setting, responsive to the means for evaluating, the data rateto a minimum data rate that is not greater than the lowest data ratestored in the table.
 31. A modem having a data rate selection capabilityand including an equalizer module and a detector module, comprising:means for determining a mean squared error of a signal, the mean squarederror representing a difference between an output of the equalizermodule and an output of the detector module; and means for selecting thedata rate based on a probability of error in detecting a symbol at thedetector module and the mean squared error.
 32. A modem as recited inclaim 31, wherein the means for determining comprises: means forcomputing the mean squared error based on a signal to noise ratio.
 33. Acomputer program product for selecting a data rate in a modem based on aplurality of error signals, each error signal representing thedifference between an output of an equalizer module and an output of adetector module, comprising: a computer readable storage medium havingcomputer readable program code means embodied therein, the computerreadable code means comprising: logic configured to compute an averageerror value from the plurality of error signals; logic configured todetermine a signal to noise ratio using the average error value; andlogic configured to select the data rate based on the signal to noiseratio.
 34. A computer program product as recited in claim 33, furthercomprising: logic configured to limit the average error value to amaximum threshold to generate a limited average error value, the logicconfigured to determine being responsive to the limited average errorvalue.
 35. A computer program product as recited in claim 34, furthercomprising: logic configured to low pass filter the limited averageerror value to generate a filtered limited average error value, thelogic configured to determine being responsive to the filtered limitedaverage error value.
 36. A computer program product as recited in claim35, further comprising the step of: logic configured to multiply thefiltered limited average error value by a scaling factor.
 37. A computerprogram product as recited in claim 36, wherein the maximum threshold isequal to the filtered limited average error value multiplied by thescaling factor.
 38. A computer program product as recited in claim 37,wherein the scaling factor is approximately two.
 39. A computer programproduct as recited in claim 33, further comprising: logic configured toincrement the signal to noise ratio by a bonus amount.
 40. A computerprogram product as recited in claim 39, wherein the value of the bonusamount increases the signal to noise ratio to a projected final signalto noise ratio.
 41. A computer program product as recited in claim 40,further comprising: logic configured to periodically decrement thesignal to noise ratio over a time period until the bonus amount has beenremoved.
 42. A computer program product as recited in claim 33, furthercomprising: logic configured to adjust the signal to noise ratio by apenalty amount;
 43. A computer program product as recited in claim 42,wherein the penalty amount is related to a number of incorrect symbolsdetected by the detector module.
 44. A computer program product asrecited in claim 42, wherein the penalty amount is set through anattention code command.
 45. A computer program product as recited inclaim 33, wherein the logic configured to select comprises logicconfigured to choose the data rate from a table uniquely associatingsignal to noise ratio values with data rate values.
 46. A computerprogram product as recited in claim 45, further comprising: logicconfigured to evaluate a frequency response of a communication channel;and logic configured to set, responsive to the logic configured toevaluate, the data rate to a minimum data rate that is not greater thanthe lowest data rate stored in the table.
 47. A computer program productfor selecting a data rate in a modem having an equalizer module and adetector module, comprising: a computer readable storage medium havingcomputer readable program code means embodied therein, the computerreadable code means comprising: logic configured to determine a meansquared error of a signal, the mean squared error representing adifference between an output of the equalizer module and an output ofthe detector module; and logic configured to select the data rate basedon a probability of error in detecting a symbol at the detector moduleand the mean squared error.
 48. A computer program product as recited inclaim 47, wherein the logic configured to determine comprises: logicconfigured to compute the mean squared error based on a signal to noiseratio.